Billerica couple charged in check scam

LOWELL -- A Billerica couple is accused of scamming two unsuspecting people out of a total of more than $3,000 in cash in an alleged check-fraud scheme, according to prosecutors.

In Lowell District Court on Thursday, Leonardo F. Aponte, 26, of 648 Boston Road and his 25-year-old wife, Renee Aponte, of the same address, pleaded not guilty to larceny over $250. Leonardo Aponte is facing an additional charge of uttering a false check.

The couple was released on personal recognizance with a pretrial conference date of Dec. 5.

In Renee Aponte's case, Tewksbury police allege that on June 5, the alleged victim told police that her friend, Renee Aponte, asked her to cash a check for $1,487 because she didn't have her own checking account.

The victim, a 42-year-old Lowell woman, told police that Renee Aponte assured her the check was good and said she received it from an online company she worked for. The friend cashed the check on her account at a Tewksbury bank and gave Renee Aponte the money.

Several days later, the victim's bank notified her that the check was a fraud and deducted the money from her account, charged her $20 for the returned check and left her account with a negative balance of $1,356.

When Renee Aponte failed to reimburse her friend despite several attempts, the friend turned to police.

Tewksbury police state in court documents that Renee Aponte admitted her friend cashed the check which she received from an online company for which she worked as a secret shopper.

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But when pressed, Renee Aponte was unable to provide police with details of the company. The check was from Finance Center Federal Credit Union based in Indianapolis. The credit union is real, but police say the check was not.

Renee Aponte allegedly told police that because she didn't know the check was bogus she shouldn't have to repay her friend.

In Leonardo Aponte's case, Tewksbury police allege he stole more than $2,050 from a friend.

In August, police say a different victim, a 34-year-old Lowell woman, told police that Leonardo "Mickey" Aponte offered her a check for $2,050 to be deposited into her bank account because he didn't have an account.

For doing him this favor, Leonardo Aponte would give her $1,000 from the check.

After depositing the check and waiting for it to clear, the victim gave Leonardo Aponte $1,000 and used the remainder to fix her car and pay bills.

The next day, when the victim went to use her debit card she found it was declined. Her account was overdrawn by $1,900.

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